48 hours on Clapham High StreetA photo essay by Jim Grover

This April, award-winning photographer Jim Grover unveils “48 Hours In Clapham High Street”, a unique photo-essay and exhibition which captures the complete transformation from day to night of one of South London’s most well-known high streets. The difference between the two personalities of Clapham High Street – daytime shoppers and night-time clubbers – is amplified by Grover’s unique observations and approach. The result is a set of images and quotes that encapsulate the many and varied ways that people experience “their” high street.

Grover limited himself to just 48 hours of shooting time. To emphasise the stark contrast between the street’s typical, mundane, daytime routine and its intense weekend nightlife, when young revellers from all around London swarm in, attracted by the numerous pubs and clubs, Grover adopted an unusual approach. During the daytime hours (from 5am to 5pm) he only photographed the south side of the street, working only in colour. In contrast, during the night time hours (from 5pm to 5am) he only photographed the north side of the street, only working in black and white.

Grover’s photographs capture a rich diversity of scenes from everyday life. Beauty and ugliness; chaos and tranquillity; youth and age; love; compassion; tenderness; companionship; resilience; and humour, are all played out in front of the over-looked backdrop of a typical British high street.

He adds: “In some ways this is ‘just a high street’, like any other. But in Clapham some very different worlds are seeking to co-exist on a single street, creating intrigue and tension. And that is what made it such a fascinating photographic subject.”

This social documentary follows on from Grover’s highly successful “Of Things Not Seen” photo essay in which he documented a year in the life of a London Priest, which was exhibited at the OXO Gallery last year.

This exhibition, held at Omnibus, Clapham’s former library now transformed into a multi-arts centre, is supplemented with analyses of Clapham high street’s daily life. For instance, 4000 people were recorded at a single point on the north side of the high street on Saturday night (11pm – 3am), double the number recorded in the same timeframe on the Monday morning! Grover also interviewed over 100 residents and workers on the High Street, recorded their key quotes which highlight the wide variety of opinions and reactions that the street provokes.

Curator Katy Barron, senior director of Michael Hoppen, one of the world’s leading photographic galleries, selected the set of 48 images: 24 in colour and 24 in black and white, following on from her curation of Jim’s “Of things not seen”.

About Jim Grover

Jim Grover is a photographer based in Clapham, South London.

Jim’s images have appeared in various publications and online including The Times; The Sunday Times; the BBC; Sunday Times Travel; The Guardian; The Guardian Magazine; The Daily Telegraph; The British Journal of Photography; Black + White Photography; Leica Forum. His images have been recognized in various competitions including The Sony World Photography Awards, and the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards. In 2015 he won the ‘Faith Through a Lens’ competition; the judging panel was chaired by the internationally- renowned photographer Sir Don McCullin CBE.

His work has appeared in exhibitions in Somerset House and The National Theatre in London. In March 2016 his solo exhibition, Of Things Not Seen (www.ofthingsnotseen.com) in the Oxo Gallery on London’s South Bank, attracted 7,400 visitors and extensive media coverage; it is currently touring various UK locations in 2017. In 2016 he was a member of the judging panel at the MIA Photo Fair in Milan.

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